A Six's Dream
by strangelyheaven
Summary: Everything may not be as perfect as it appears to be. This is a story about the little girl, eight years later, whose magazine Celeste signed in Happily Ever After and her dreams of chasing after a modeling job. Set seven years after the castes were discontinued.
1. Chapter 1

"Name."

"Sheren Laurens," she squeaked.

"Age."

"Um, fourteen."

"Province."

"Fenley."

"Previous caste."

"I thought castes don't matter anymore?" she replied hesitantly.

"Do you think we'd hire a previous eight?" the casting director drawled. "Bad for business. Horrible manners."

"Um, well," she stuttered, making up her mind. "I used to be a three," she said decisively. He raised his eyebrows, glanced at her, looked at the seemingly eternal line of girls, and then back to her.

"You're pretty enough, and threes are rare these days. Sign here," he said quickly. Sheren squealed but then quickly clamped her lips together as she scribbled her name. Her dream was coming true!

"Great. You're new agent is Marisa Chancy. She will be the one who will find you modeling jobs. Be at her office tomorrow at 8 a.m." Before Sheren could ask where exactly her office was, he hauled his massive frame out of the squeaking chair and ushered her out.

"We already found our three girls. Y'all can go home," he bellowed. There was a collective moan from the waiting line, and Sheren saw more than a few venomous glances shot her way.

"Thank you, Mr.-" but he had already turned and lumbered back inside, leaving her standing on the sidewalk.

"Ma! I'm home!" Sheren yelled, slamming the screen door behind her.

"I'm in the kitchen!" her mom yelled over the bubbling soup and clattering of pots and pans. The fan whirred overhead, raining down bits of dust and fluff. Sheren dumped her bag onto the rickety table before skipping into the kitchen. The smell of potato soup wafted out of a beaten silver pot and her mother spun gracefully to the beat of a silent song as she added spices and scraped chopped peppers into the thick, bubbling soup. Sheren grabbed a spoon and began to work alongside her mother, stirring the sautéed onions.

"Well, how was it?" her mother asked, turning towards her.

"I got the job!" Sheren squealed, pumping her fist in the air. A clump of greasy onions fell off the spoon and into her hair.

"A little too enthusiastic?" her mother laughed, picking the onions out of Sheren's hair. But she smiled and kissed her forehead.

"I don't know if I'll actually get called for any shoots," Sheren said dubiously. "I think the guy just wanted to get off work. He didn't act like there was anything special about me." She squirmed guiltily, recalling her claim of being a three. If she got caught, she would probably be in big trouble. But the castes were supposed to be gone, so what did it matter if a previous Six claimed to be a Three?

"Well, that guy is dumb," her mother replied, smiling. "You are the most special girl I know. And-the onions are burning." Sheren turned with a start and scraped the pan vigorously before replying.

"You're supposed to say that! You're my mom!" Sheren complained. "How am I supposed to know if I'm actually pretty? What if I'm not pretty enough and I don't get any jobs? Only one boy has even had a crush on me, and he was a weirdo!"

"Your worth does not depend on you getting a job or not," her mother reprimanded sternly. "You cannot live your life comparing yourself to other people. There will always be someone prettier than you, someone smarter than you, someone better than you at everything! You have to just be content with who you are."

"Mom, that is the cheesiest thing ever!" Sheren whined. Her mom laughed, eyes sparkling.

"I love you, Sheren," she replied, smiling. "You are worth everything to me. Now go do something else. You are crowding the kitchen." Dodging the spoon aimed at her bottom, Sheren danced out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Sheren flopped onto the rickety bunk bed, ducking to avoid hitting her head on the bed above. She reached up and let loose the cord holding the blankets so that they fell down around her and gave a little privacy from the six younger siblings she shared a room with.

Letting out her pent-up breath, she reached under the mattress to pull out an old, battered magazine. She glanced fondly at the faded cover before reverently flipping through to a dog-eared page. A beautiful blond girl modeled bikinis, now eight years outdated. What drew Sheren's eye, however, was not the beautiful girls or clothes from eight years ago.

Beautiful black cursive curled across the top of the page. 'Don't give up on your dreams.' A messy signature lay underneath. Sheren remembered the day her father had brought it home, and how overjoyed six-year-old her had been to have a message and a signature from Celeste! Celeste Newsome, the gorgeous model, and Sheren's idol since she was little. When she got chosen for the Selection, Sheren was always the one in the front of the crowd holding up signs, rooting for her favorite Two ever. Celeste was the one who inspired her to become a model and chase her dreams, as unattainable as they were at the time.

If she were alive, Sheren seriously doubted that Celeste would have known or understood how much hope she'd given to the little Six with no hope of a bright future, but it had changed Sheren's life. Now, with the castes gone, she actually had hope. It wasn't unsegregated yet, earlier in the day as proof, but at least Sheren could get away with the lie and they didn't check her background. It was a start, anyway, if not a perfect solution.

At that moment Sheren heard the door creak open and then thump softly shut. Little footsteps accompanied by the sound of dragging on wood made their way over to her bed.

"Sheren?" a soft voice asked. She pulled back the curtain to see Lila standing there, her twisted leg peeking out from underneath her dress.

"Come on in," she replied, scooting over to make room for her little sister. After she was comfortably snuggled in to Sheren's side, Lila peeked up from under her eyelashes.

"How did it go?" she asked, her blue eyes hopeful.

"Pretty well," Sheren replied, smiling. "I was lucky I got there fairly early in the line, because the man working for the agency didn't even interview everyone. He just wanted to get off work, so he picked three girls relatively quickly. He said I was fairly pretty, but…" She shrugged. "I'm not sure I'm going to get any jobs, but we'll see. I get to meet my agent tomorrow." Lila giggled.

"I'm so happy for you! You're going to be the beautifulest model ever." Her grin was so big it reached her ears and her eyes were dancing. She glanced down and gently picked up the old magazine. Her smile disappeared and transformed into longing as she opened it.

"I wish I was as beautiful as her," the little girl said wistfully, brushing brown curls out of her eyes.

"I think you're more beautiful," Sheren whispered, glancing down. "As much as I love Celeste, I love you a thousand times more." Lila smiled, her pink lips tilting upwards and lighting up her face. Her blue eyes were soft and round and full of love. Sheren could also see a hint of sorrow.

"What's the matter, love?" Lila's bottom lip quivered a little.

"I'll never be as beautiful as you, and no one will ever want me," she mumbled, blue eyes filling up with tears.

"What are you talking about?" Sheren cried. "You are the most beautiful girl I know!"

"Not with this leg, I'm not," she choked. "No one's ever going to want a gimp for anything except scrubbing toilets." A few tears escaped and ran down her freckled cheeks, and Lila buried her head in Sheren's shoulder.

"Shh," she whispered. "It's going to be okay. You're only nine. You have plenty of time to figure it out, okay? Don't worry. I'll take care of you." Smoothing the silky curls off her forehead, Sheren gently kissed the top of her head.

"Dinner!" their mama hollered from the kitchen. The noise penetrated the thin walls easily.

"Come on, Lila. We're having potato soup; your favorite," she said with a smile. Lila smiled back and wiped the tears off her face before allowing Sheren to pull her out of the bed and onto the worn wooden floor.

"Everything's going to be okay, you hear me, Lila?" Sheren whispered sternly into her ear. "I'm changing it all, for us and for everyone, starting tomorrow. Do you understand?" Lila nodded. "It's a new age. Everything is different now. For us, and for everyone. I'm gonna make sure of it."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or this world. All credit belongs to Kiera Cass.**

The next morning Sheren was up bright and early. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and it was a new day. She hadn't been able to sleep most of the night, too excited and preoccupied. At some point, Lila had crawled into bed with her, snuggling into Sheren's side.

Sheren carefully extracted herself from the little girl's embrace before tiptoeing across the floor, trying to avoid creaky boards. Little snores filled the room and Sheren was grateful for the noise, as it covered the sound of her footsteps. She knew a lot of the kids were light sleepers, and she didn't necessarily want them up this early. When they could get it, sleep was a treasure.

Right as she was about to close the door behind her, a little voice made her whip her head around.

"Where are you going?" Joey had sat up on his bed and was sleepily rubbing his eyes.

"Go back to bed, Joey," Sheren hissed.

"Sheren, where are you going?" He yawned, showing a row of white baby teeth and a hole where one was supposed to be.

"I'm going to work," she said, slightly impatiently.

"Can I come with you?" he asked, his blue eyes wide and innocent.

"No, honey, not this time. Go back to sleep, okay? I'll tell you all about it when I get home." He nodded and lay back down, his eyes closing immediately. She slipped out the door and shut it carefully behind her.

Sheren's mama was in the kitchen, frying eggs and bacon. Penny was sitting at the table, her legs swinging.

"Morning, Penny," Sheren said with a smile, ruffling her sister's red hair.

"Morning!" Penny replied, her mouth stuffed full of food. Sheren laughed and went into the kitchen.

"Mm, Mama! That smells so good," she said, taking a big sniff. "You're going to wake this whole house up with your good cooking!"

"Eat up," her mother replied, handing her a plate piled high with eggs.

"Mama," Sheren complained. "This is too much food. There's not going to be enough for the kids. And since when do we eat breakfast?"

"It's your first day of work," her mother replied calmly. "It's a special occasion, and special occasions call for special food! I made this just for you, so you better eat it. For once, don't worry about the others." Sheren knew there was no use arguing, so she swallowed her protests and sat down at the table.

Just because the castes were gone didn't mean the world was magically better. Sheren's family still didn't have enough to eat, though it had been seven years. The only reason they had food now wasn't because the change in economy; it was just the fact that now Sheren and some of her siblings were old enough to work. She couldn't imagine what it would've been like for her mother, her husband too sick to work and having to support four children while pregnant with Penny. She was too little to remember much from back then. Now that Sheren and two of her younger brothers could at least work some, they were scraping by.

"Mama, this is really good," she said, swallowing down the eggs past the lump in her throat.

"Are you crying?" her mother asked sternly, putting the spatula down and turning to face Sheren.

"Of course not," Sheren replied, but a tear trickled down her face and betrayed her.

"What's the matter, honey?" she asked, putting a hand on her hip. She wasn't the kind of mother to give out hugs. She tried her best to be empathetic and comfort her children when they had problems, but she had seen too many things in her lifetime to be sad about a friend who was mean or a broken doll.

"Nothing," she choked out. "I'm okay, but the eggs are going to burn."

"Forget the eggs. Tell me what's the matter. I just made you a delicious breakfast, and you're crying and getting salty tears all over it."

"I'm sorry," Sheren replied, smiling a little. "I just, I don't know, I guess I'm just mad at the injustice of the world and heartbroken that the kids will never have a good shot in life."

"What are you talking about, Sheren? You have always been so optimistic in hoping for a better future! You're chasing that goal today! And now you're saying that you don't think Penny or Joey or Tye can make a good life for themselves?" Her mother's voice was incredulous. "What happened to my daydreamer overnight?"

"No, not like that, Mama," Sheren replied. "I just mean, how unfair is it that there is a prince and a royal family in that palace with more than they could ever need, while we are starving down here?"

"We do better than most, Sheren. You know that." Her voice was gentle.

"Yes, I know," Sheren said, frustratedly running her fingers through her hair. "I just want them to be happy, you know? And I try so hard to give them everything, but it's an unfair, biased world. I just wish things were different."

"Your siblings are so lucky to have an older sister like you," her mother said quietly, kissing the top of Sheren's head. Sheren started, a little surprised, but then leaned into her.

"And I'm lucky to have a mother like you."

"Now who's being cheesy?" her mother laughed. Sheren smiled.

"I just love you, Mama. I don't think I tell you enough how grateful I am for how hard you work. I know you've been through a lot of hard things, more than I can understand, and you are the strongest woman I know."

"Thank you, Sheren," she said, turning back to the stove and scraping the pan of eggs. They were only slightly browned.

"I have to go now," she said, bringing her empty plate to the kitchen and kissing her mother on the cheek. "I love you, Mama."

"Wait!" Penny cried, springing up from the table. Sheren laughed; she had forgotten the girl was there. Penny ran over to Sheren and threw her arms around Sheren's waist.

"Good luck!" she exclaimed. "I have so much faith in you!"

"Goodbye, my little genius," Sheren said, laughing. "My seven-year-old who talks like a grown-up. I'll see you later!" She swung Penny around before setting her down and opening the door, letting in the morning sunshine.

"Wish me luck!"

**Author's Note: Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this story, please leave a review. It's always greatly appreciated :)**


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